Plus: More Americans believe social media companies hold too much political power, survey shows
| For May 06, 2024 |  |
| Here’s a look at today's tech briefing: - Boeing's Starliner set to transport NASA astronauts to ISS.
- SEC targets Robinhood's crypto business.
- Jack Dorsey leaves Bluesky board, appears to support X.
- Most Americans believe social media has too much political power.
- Synopsys to sell software integrity unit to PE group.
- Apple AI summarizes texts and web pages.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is set to launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station today for the first time. After years of delays, the Starliner is scheduled to lift off its first crewed flight at 10:34 p.m., carrying astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. More: - NASA will stream coverage of Monday's launch on its YouTube channel.
- The spacecraft is set to lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
- The journey to the ISS is expected to last 26 hours, with astronauts staying for eight days before returning to the U.S. via parachute-assisted landing.
Zoom out: - The Crew Flight Test marks a critical moment for Boeing's spaceflight program as it competes against SpaceX.
- In 2014, both companies were chosen to build spacecraft for commercial flights to the ISS. NASA awarded SpaceX $2.6B and Boeing $4.2B.
- Since then, Boeing has run only two unmanned flights compared to SpaceX's nine crewed missions.
- Boeing has had to address technical issues with Starliner, such as stuck valves and software glitches, and conduct more tests before the crewed mission.
- The setbacks have resulted in more than $1.5B in overrun costs.
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| 2 | | The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could sue Robinhood's cryptocurrency business over alleged securities law violations. Robinhood disclosed that it received a "Wells notice" from SEC staff, recommending the agency take enforcement action against the trading firm's crypto unit. More: - The SEC argues that many digital currencies are securities, requiring crypto brokers to register and follow securities laws.
- Robinhood expressed confidence that the assets on its platform aren't securities, noting it has delisted tokens like Solana, Polygon, and Cardano in response to SEC lawsuits against other platforms.
- The trading firm said it received the notice after cooperating with SEC investigative subpoenas over crypto listings, custody, and its operations.
Zoom out: - The SEC has increased its oversight of the mostly unregulated crypto trading industry.
- Top platforms like Binance, FTX, and Coinbase have faced SEC lawsuits and criminal charges.
- The SEC could seek an injunction, a cease-and-desist order, disgorgement, activity restrictions, and/or fines against Robinhood.
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| 3 | | Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has left the board of X rival Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform he helped launch in 2019. Dorsey also appeared to endorse X, previously Twitter, in a post over the weekend. More: - Dorsey confirmed his departure from Bluesky's board in an X post, without providing a reason.
- Originally a project within Twitter, Bluesky later became independent and launched to the public in February.
- As Twitter CEO, Dorsey backed Bluesky to create an open-source social media standard, with plans for Twitter to adopt it.
- He then joined the Bluesky board in 2022 after Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter.
- Bluesky was briefly considered as a potential alternative to Twitter, now X, but has been overshadowed by Meta's Threads and other platforms.
Zoom out: - Bluesky's board now consists of CEO Jay Graeber and Jeremie Miller, the inventor of Jabber/XMPP.
- The company said it's searching for a new member "who shares our commitment to building a social network that puts people in control of their experience."
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| 4 | | More Americans now believe social media companies hold too much political power and influence, according to new Pew research. Around 78% of Americans now believe the companies wield excessive political power, up from 72% in 2020. 
What the numbers say: Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (84%) are more likely than Democrats and Democratic-leaning individuals (74%) to believe social media companies have too much political power. However, the share of Democrats who believe this has grown more over the past four years, from 63% to 74%. Only 16% of Americans believe social media sites have an appropriate amount of political influence, with just 4% thinking they lack enough power. The bigger picture: While both Republicans and Democrats view social media's impact on the country negatively, Republicans are more cautious at 71% vs. 59% for Democrats. Furthermore, 83%of Americans now believe social media platforms intentionally censor political viewpoints they disagree with, up from 77% in 2022. | | | |
| 5 | | Chip designer Synopsys will sell its software integrity (SIG) unit to a private equity group for up to $2.1B. Clearlake Capital and Francisco Partners are acquiring SIG and plan to operate it as an independent company under a new name. More: - SIG provides app security testing services for software developers.
- The deal is expected to close in H2 2024. The name of the new standalone entity will be disclosed later.
- The move allows Synopsys to concentrate on its primary business of providing semiconductor design tools, CEO Sassine Ghazi said.
Zoom out: - In January, Synopsys said it would acquire software developer Ansys for roughly $35B.
- Synopsys plans to combine its semiconductor electronic design automation tools with Ansys' simulation and analysis offerings.
- The deal is the tech industry's biggest since Broadcom acquired VMware for $69B in November.
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| 6 | | Apple is developing AI software that summarizes text messages and web pages. The features for iPhone Messages and Safari will operate offline using Apple's Ajax AI model, sources told Apple Insider. More: - The software analyzes and summarizes text in Safari, Messages, digital docs, and a dedicated text box.
- The software runs entirely on-device and displays privacy warnings before accessing user data.
- While the technology generates basic responses offline, more advanced replies or summaries could require cloud-based processing.
- As a result, Apple has been in talks with OpenAI and Google to license their AI technologies for iPhones.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Beth Duckett | |
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